The 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals is already turning into a weekend that KB Titan Racing’s Greg Anderson and son Cody will never forget. On Saturday at the biggest, most historic race on the NHRA tour, Greg locked down the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge overall championship in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, and two win lights later, Cody earned the victory in the final bonus race of the season driving his Humphrey Heating and Air Conditioning/Daikin/HendrickCars.com Chevy. It was the first win of any kind in NHRA Pro Stock for the quick-developing Rookie of the Year contender, and it was the second consecutive #2Fast2Tasty Championship for the most winning driver in the history of the class.
Greg entered the bonus race tied with KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge championship, and when the tree dropped, he earned a point that moved him ahead to secure the overall title. He was pleased with the accomplishment, but he was also overwhelmingly proud of his son’s own achievement.
“It’s such a cool deal that Mission puts on this bonus race for us, and I’m just so darn grateful for the opportunity to have a day like today,” Greg said to the media gathered round in the pressroom at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. “And Cody, he’s progressed at every race we’ve gone to this year. People are probably getting tired of me telling them that he’s the real deal and that he’s going to be there by the end of the year, but it sure looks like he’s holding up his end of the bargain. There are a lot of tough racers in this class, and I’ll put him right up against any one of them.”
Racing in his first Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, Cody launched with a .060 that was identical to the young gun in the other lane, Chris Vang. The two were glued together going down the track, and both scoreboards illuminated with a 6.668. Cody’s came with a 205.22 mph speed to Vang’s 204.48, and when the elapsed times were further scrutinized, it was determined that the win light was flashing in Cody’s lane by just six-thousandths of a second.
On the other side of the ladder, Greg came up on the wrong end of a battle with longtime rival Greg Stanfield after clocking a .055 light and running a 6.648. Stanfield advanced with a .017 and 6.672.
There in the final, Cody left the starting line with a .020 reaction and drove his way to a victorious 6.642, 204.91 mph to top Stanfield’s .049 and 6.645, 203.58.
“Greg Stanfield is a bad dude,” said Cody, who watched his father and Stanfield go to battle many times growing up. “He’s very hard to beat, and to be able to do that is a real honor. To be able to leave on Greg Stanfield is a big deal, and to get two win lights is a huge confidence boost. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going.”
Two weeks ago in Brainerd, the younger Anderson raced to the semifinals in his best raceday performance to date. Here in Indianapolis, he’s currently qualified in the No. 3 position, just a tick behind his father, who is second in the qualifying order. KB Titan Racing-powered Matt Hartford is the provisional No. 1 qualifier in his Total Seal Chevrolet after racing to a strong 6.626, 205.54 pass in Saturday’s later session. Glenn is No. 6, Matt Latino is seventh, Jerry Tucker is tenth, Deric Kramer is No. 11, and Eric Latino rounds out the KB Titan engines in the No. 14 spot.
Qualifying for the 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals will continue on Sunday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park with two final sessions to set the field for the final race of the regular season.
The post Historic Indy: Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson and son Cody double with Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge championship and win first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
